12 Movies for Mothers and Daughters (make that 14)

The first 4 movies are G rated and I considered them to be fine for my girls when they were about 5 or 6 years of age.

Mary Poppins 

 I remembered the songs from this movie from when I was a little girl. Based on the book by P.L.Travers, an Australian author. You can find out about her here.

The Sound of Music 

Another musical I remember from my childhood. A good children's book to tie in with the movie is 'The Trapp Family Book' by Hans Wilhelm.

Little Lord Fauntelroy 

A sweet story based on the book by Francis Hodgson Burnett, this is a very enjoyable movie which was done in 1995.

 Anne of Green Gables 

There are three DVDs in this series but only the first one is rated G so I save the other two which have more adult concepts for later (Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel PG - about age 10 and Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story - about age 12 - 14).

For about age 8 and up:

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

Based on the true story of Gladys Alward, a missionary to China, who ends up with a hundred homeless children in her care when the Japanese invade China leading them to safety in a gruelling trek through the mountains. 

For about age 10 and up:

Little Women

I forgot about this one until it was mentioned below - thanks Vintage Reader! There is also an old version of Little Women which stars a very young Elizabeth Taylor which I wasn't particularly enamoured with but my good friend Kathy loves it so for her sake I mention it here.

Miss Potter 

The story of Beatrix Potter very beautifully done with little snippets of Peter Rabbit and other characters from her books. The girls and I loved the clothes Beatrix wore in this movie.

Ever After 

A retelling of the fairy tale Cinderella. This movie was a lot of fun. A bit of romance done in an appropriate way and an interesting heroine with plenty of character and the nasty girls get their just desserts at the end.

Pride and Prejudice 

We've probably watched every version and the BBC production definitely wins, maybe because it is satisfyingly long.

A few years ago 6 of our children came down with chicken pox one after the other and I had about 6 weeks where I barely left the house. One of the girls was really sick with it and came into our room late one night crying because she couldn't sleep and was so miserable. My husband suggested I put on P & P and watch it with her. So that's what we did and it helped distract her for 6 hours......I was totally stuffed by the end of it.

Around age 12 and up:

Cranford

Set in a market town in England in 1842 and adapted from the novels of Elizabeth Gaskell, this movie is all about the idiosyncrasies of its inhabitants and really is charming. There are some medical emergencies in the movie in which might be a bit much for the squeamish and require a preview but overall it is lovely and has some very poignant moments.

Return to Cranford

Follows on from Cranford and includes the arrival of the railroad to the town, some nicely done romance and gentle humour.

About age 14 and up:

North and South

Pride and Prejudice is a great movie but the characters are often restrained and reserved. North and South has a similar theme to P & P in many ways but there is much more feeling and emotion between the characters which enables you to understand and appreciate the struggles and disparity of the two main characters. The musical soundtrack adds a wonderful ethereal quality which enhances the story.

 Jane Eyre

We've watched about 3 versions of Jane Eyre but this one is tops. It is nice and long, stays true to the story and captures the dialogue contained in the book very well. Timothy Dalton portrays an authentic Mr. Rochester and Zelah Clarke was just the right sort of person to play Jane Eyre.